PAYSON — Quarterback Nolan Keeney threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, Caydn Sanchez took an interception 60 yards to the house for a score and Payson bounced back from an ugly loss to Round Valley with a 43-14 win over rival Blue Ridge on Friday night.

A colorful halftime speech and 2 minute and 43-second stretch in the third quarter was the difference in this game as the Longhorns (6-1, 3-1 3A Mountain) have won six of seven to start the 2025 campaign just days before the AIA releases its power point rankings in the 3A conference.

Payson trailed 14-3 at halftime, and coach Bryan Burke wasn’t going to let his team off the hook for their play in the first half (including the four quarters against Round Valley a week prior), using the locker room gathering at halftime to relay his message.

“It was kind of two waves. I came in and challenged them a little bit, then I came back and said, ‘Hey, I love you guys too much to let you play this way, so you have to love each other, trust each other,’ and the rest was up to them,” Burke said about his reportedly fiery halftime speech.

“That’s not me as a motivator; that’s me as a reminder of what we’re here to do.”

Coach Bryan Burke speaks to his team after a 43-14 win over Blue Ridge on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Payson. (Brian M. Bergner Jr./AzPreps365)

The Longhorns responded, opening the second half with the football as Keeney found a wide-open Lucas Lee on a 32-yard touchdown toss down the middle of the field to make it 14-9 at the 8:56 mark in the third quarter.

Keeney then sprinted 36 yards on a quarterback keeper for a score to give the Longhorns a lead, 15-14, before Jonny McAerny took advantage of a Blue Ridge fumble, scoring on a 2-yard run and suddenly, Payson led 22-14 with 6:13 left in the third period.

“We got yelled at a bit in the locker room, it was a bit loud in there, I’m not going to lie. We definitely needed it because we came out in the second half more fired up then we were in the first half. I thought we were ready in the first half, but we unlocked a whole new level,” Keeney said, adding that coach has taught them right and if they stick with it, they’ll have success.

“If we just do what we’ve been taught, we’re going to end up winning,” Keeney said.

From that point on, Blue Ridge (3-3, 1-1 3A Mountain) had no answer for Payson defensively as they scored 40 unanswered points in the second half, including the 60-yard interception return for a touchdown by Sanchez with 7:32 left to play the sealed the deal.

“It was an awesome moment. I read it, they threw it right to me and the receiver wasn’t ready. All my guys blocked for me, and I scored,” Sanchez said about his read on Blue Ridge quarterback Brax Cluff, who came into Friday night’s contest having thrown only 10 passes all season.

The Yellowjackets had thrown only 11 in total in 2025 compared to 225 runs.

Sanchez said their goal is to win the 3A Mountain West region, and this was a big step in that direction.

“We want that region championship. That’s why we came out strong after halftime,” Sanchez said.

Eric Hjalmarson’s group in Payson has lost three of their last four games after opening the season 2-0, but beat Round Valley 25-21 in Week 5 before a bye week and then the road trip to Payson.

Daniel Rodriguez put Blue Ridge on the board to open the game with a 41-yard touchdown run to make it 8-0 with 5:47 to play in the first quarter, then Karlo Harris scored on a 2-yard run to make it 14-3 before halftime but it was all Longhorns after that.

UP NEXT

Blue Ridge hosts Apache Junction in Week 8 action on Friday, Oct. 10.

Payson has a bye week before traveling to Thatcher on Oct. 17.

Both games are set for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Brian M. Bergner Jr. has covered professional, collegiate and high school sports for more than 20 years. Follow him on X at @AzPreps365Brian or on Facebook at @Five2MediaWorks. Have a story idea? Email Brian at bbergner@azpreps365.com.